Why Not Murder

17. Responsibility

17. Responsibility

"I have more for you Maya," Dog said, "I was in Hudson's Laymuir's office to do some computer and internet upgrade. Later I was searching his computer remotely and I found this scanned letter that was sent to him shortly before the second explosion incident at one of his construction sites. It was delivered by mail and subsequently scanned into the computer as was all the other correspondence received. This letter never became part of the investigation. It's written by a man who used to work for Mr. Laymuir briefly and it's addressed to Hudson. At the time it was considered a prank letter from a bitter employee who was fired. Mr. Laymuir stated in his daily work journal that he couldn't imagine who the author was."

This was the letter:

"I worked for you for one month and you never recognized me. I am responsible for the bombing at your Westcliff project. My motive is to bring you down. You and all the others with inflated egos have to be brought down. I am the author of the other letters like this you have received. It's people like you who claim ownership of money that cause it to stagnate in pools which only the so-called owners can access, that keeps the rest of us in poverty. Money cannot be owned any more than the air we breathe can be owned. Money must circulate, just as air must and water must circulate or they become stale and valueless. The reason I did not explicitly declare my responsibility earlier for the bombing is that I have been waiting to see the long-term effects of my action. I acted alone though there is a loose collection of people who agree with my ideas. I wrote you many warnings which you obviously have not heeded. You are stealing from the collective."

The letter continued: "There is no such thing as ownership. It is a word invented to justify hoarding by force. The force used to hoard is evidence of the effect the meaning of ownership has had on all the people of this society. 'I can have this, because it belongs to me' is heard everywhere. The big sale of this idea has promoted the work of evil in all its ways. There was a time when the beliefs of the church were embraced by all, now capitalism is the church and the foundation of capitalism is the concept of ownership. It has become the measure of value. Your worth to society is based on how much money you own. Everything is measured by money. You are extremely self-centered and recognize no value in others besides how they can serve you. Without people like you, people like you think, the system would fall apart. The welfare of all depends on you. Egotistical falsehoods, same as the priests of old who claimed it was their communicating with the Gods of the sky to bring rain for crops that ensured the people survive. I will strike again."

Maya asked, "Was this letter reconsidered when the second Westcliff project was bombed?"

"The letter was deemed ridiculous," Dog replied "apparently ignored and forgotten."

"The second bombing occurred like the first had," Maya said, "At night, same type of explosives found on site, access to the site effectuated in the same way."

"It's noted in the police records of the incident that a similar letter was said by Mr. Laymuir to have been received by him after the second bombing," Dog said, "but Mr. Laymuir burned it in rage, absolutely refusing to think that someone with such insane views could have been clever enough to cause the bombing."

"Hudson," Maya said, "believes the person who stole his sports car is the same person who committed the bombings and that the car theft is the perpetrator's way of warning Hudson that his retaliation is now targeting his home."

"I thought the police determined that the car wasn't really stolen but used by someone in the household," Dog said, "Although the identity of the person in the household has not come out."